


Senior Year

by KristaReore2014



Category: Criminal Minds, Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Crossover, F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-11
Updated: 2015-08-11
Packaged: 2018-04-14 05:16:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 13,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4552065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KristaReore2014/pseuds/KristaReore2014
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Senior year of high school for the guys and gals of Criminal Minds and L&O:SVU.  Set in modern times. Even if you don't like HS AU fics, check this one out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Last Week of Summer

August 2008

It was the last week of summer vacation. School was going to start soon and Jennifer Jareau, JJ to everyone who knew her, was excited. She was excited because she was going to be a senior this year. Senior year was going to be epic, JJ had already decided that. She had been named Captain of the girls’ Soccer team last year and she knew she’d be retaining that title, which was enough to make her happy; & she was considered one of the most popular girls in her school. 

JJ was blonde with blue eyes and a bubbly personality that easily leant itself to popularity. She was kind, sweet, outgoing, athletic, and she was beloved by both the students and the teachers. She was the ‘golden girl’ of Barton Avery Underwood High School, and everyone knew it. BAU high wasn’t a small school but it wasn’t too big either. It was like its own small town, and like a small town everyone knew everyone else’s business. So when JJ had come out to her parents and her core group of friends, the secret hadn’t stayed secret for very long. 

JJ, along with her best friends Alex Cabot, Elliot Stabler and Derek Morgan, pretty much ruled the school. Everyone looked to them for their weekend plans and JJ for one, loved the power. Her popularity and the support of her friends had ensured that no one would mess with her about her sexuality. Sadly, there was no one at BAU high that had ever caught JJ’s eye. Her friends were hot but they were her friends; they were practically family and JJ would never mess with family. Besides, the only other lesbians she knew were Alex and Olivia Benson and they were dating each other. 

It was a Monday morning and JJ was being lazy. She was still in bed when her cell phone rang. She reached over to the nightstand and picked it up, smiling at the sound of her best friend’s ringtone.

“Hey Alex, what’s up?” JJ asked, her voice still a little sleepy.

Alex Cabot, by now accustomed to JJ’s sleepy voice and her bouts of laziness just chuckled, “JJ, don’t tell me you’re still in bed!”

“So what if I am?”

Alex sighed, “JJ, get your lazy ass out of bed and get down here! We’re all waiting on you and the others are getting restless.”

“Down where?” JJ was a little disoriented, she didn’t remember making any plans for today until at least 11am. JJ glanced at her alarm clock and was a little surprised to see it was ten past eleven. “Shit…I’m late. Ok Al, I’m getting up now. Be there in like, twenty minutes ok?”

“Yeah, ok just hurry up JJ!”

JJ ended the call and flopped back on the bed. She had forgotten to set her alarm to wake her up in time. She’d been up late the night before on her laptop working on her latest story. JJ’s only secret so far was her stories. She loved using her imagination and writing short stories that usually starred her friends and their antics…though the names were always changed to protect the not so innocent. 

 

JJ sighed as she forced herself to get out of bed and into the shower. As the hot water cascaded down on her, JJ remembered the plans she’d made for the last Monday before the end of the summer. JJ and her friends were going to drive to Chesapeake Bay and have a fun beach day. 

JJ was dressed and ready to go within fifteen minutes, her bikini was under her denim shorts and her white t shirt. She said a quick goodbye to her mom and sprinted out the back door to her car. Her car, a 16th birthday gift from her parents, was a 1956 cherry red Mustang convertible. Her father had spent the whole summer before she got her license restoring it, and showing JJ how to maintain it so she wouldn’t have to be scared or worried if she ever had car problems. So far, the car had been steadfastly reliable. 

JJ loved her car, it was her baby and the attention she showered on it would’ve made a girlfriend jealous, if she’d ever had one. JJ knew she was gay but she hadn’t had a girlfriend yet. Her summer before junior year, she’d gone to soccer camp for two weeks and she’d had a few make out sessions with a cute redhead who’d been the goalie on the team but other than that, there’d been no one else. 

JJ drove to the parking lot of the high school where her friends were waiting for her. Fifteen teenagers with only five cars between them always meant the ones with cars gave the ones without cars rides. It worked out great because everyone could get to the school so they could split up into the different cars. 

JJ pulled into the lot and drove to the far corner where her friends were waiting. She parked her car and got out, bracing herself for her friends’ greetings, which varied from good natured teasing about what she did on her late nights to tackling bear hugs. 

Alex Cabot was one of the huggers. She embraced her best friend since kindergarten and teasingly joked, “about damn time JJ.”

“Yeah JJ, next time you stay up late at least set your alarm.” Derek Morgan, D-Day to his teammates on the football team but just plain Morgan to his friends, teased, knowing that despite wanting to tease about online porn or cybersex there was a line and JJ wasn’t the type for that stuff anyway.

JJ laughed off the teasing she got as the others chimed in. Olivia, Penelope Garcia, and Casey Novak were among the huggers while the rest just said their hellos. 

It was Spencer Reid, their less athletic but more intellectual friend, who asked, “who’s going in whose car this time?”

The seating arrangements were usually the same but JJ looked around and noticed that two cars were missing. “Wait, Fin, El, where are your cars?”

Odafin Tutuola, Fin to his friends, looked down and admitted sheepishly, “pops took it way for the week after I got that speeding ticket Saturday night.”

Elliot Stabler, coughed and said, “mine’s in Ernie’s garage waiting on some parts.”

JJ didn’t really need to know more, Saturday night was the drag race the guys had insisted on having and it had resulted in Fin getting a ticket and El over extending his Ford Taurus and now it needed repairs. JJ just grinned, “hmm, maybe next time you two will listen to me and your girlfriends when we tell you not to do something as stupid as drag racing.”

Both guys turned a little red as their girlfriends both gave them the same look JJ was giving them, making it clear they were on her side in this. JJ took a moment to work it out and then said, “ok well this means five people to a car instead of three so…Fin and Jo can go in Morgan’s car with Morgan, Garcia and Casey. El, you and Kathy can ride with me and Alex, and Olivia, and Munch and Brian can ride with Elle, Reid and Kim in Elle’s car, everyone okay with that?”

JJ’s friends looked around at each other, the drivers nodding and they agreed it was okay. JJ was used to taking charge in her group of friends. She was the ringleader with Alex, Elliot and Morgan often deferring to her but also throwing their two cents in when needed. 

Everyone got in their assigned cars and they were quickly on their way to the beach, determined to have a great day.

In JJ’s car, Kathy sat in the front with JJ, still a little ticked off at Elliot for the drag race and willing to make him ‘suffer’ the long car ride in the back seat with Alex and Olivia who were still in that stage of their relationship where they were affectionate and cute and, in JJ’s single girl opinion, nauseating. She knew she only felt that way though, because she was single. But really, Alex and Olivia had been together since sophomore year, they were hardly a new couple anymore. 

JJ decided to ignore her friends’ make out session and turned to Kathy, “hey, am I the only one feeling…I dunno, restless? I mean it’s the last week of summer break before our senior year and I feel like there’s a storm on the horizon. Do you feel it too?”

Kathy thought about that for a moment and suddenly realized that she’d been feeling that too lately, “yeah, almost like…something’s going to change. Something…epic is going to finally happen this year.”

“Yeah…epic! That’s the word that came to my mind too this morning when I woke up. It hit me that senior year is going to be epic, there’s something big on the horizon and I don’t mean graduation.”

“Epic? JJ don’t you think that if something epic were going to happen in this sleepy town, it would’ve already?” Alex said, tuning into the conversation.

Olivia tuned in too, wondering if this was the right time to drop her big news. 

JJ refused to have her theory dampened. “I’m serious Al, something big is going to happen. Senior year is the time for it to happen, the last chance for it. C’mon Al, you can’t tell me you’re not looking forward to seeing what being seniors will mean. Liv, what about you?”

“Hey I’m all for senior year. One last year and then I am outta here and off to college.” Olivia said, grinning. She’d already had offers from a couple of schools for a softball scholarship when she graduated. All she had to do was stay healthy and keep pitching winning games and she could write her own ticket anywhere, UCLA, Arizona, Arizona State, Washington, even Florida State. 

Alex looked at her girlfriend, a little sad but knowing she’d never do anything to stand in her way. Alex would simply attend whichever school Olivia decided on and go from there. 

The general consensus in the car was that they were all looking forward to graduating and going to college. 

JJ pulled into the small parking lot at the beach and they all got out, noticing that the other two cars had pulled in right behind them and parked on either side of JJ’s car. Towels, blankets, snacks and other things were emptied out of the trunks of cars and the gang headed to the sand together. 

Morgan and JJ scoped out a clear spot that was big enough to accommodate all of them and they claimed it. The friends began spreading out the blankets to sit on and they sat down, already paired off. 

JJ looked around at her friends, happy that they were all happy in their relationships, even if some of them didn’t make a lot of sense sometimes. 

JJ glanced at her friend Elle Greenaway, the star catcher on the softball team. She and Olivia worked great together on the field and were friends off the field but Elle had fallen for Spencer Reid, the co-captain of the debate team. Spence was great guy, sweet, funny and scary smart but sometimes JJ knew that to an outsider it would seem odd that a jock like Elle was dating someone like Spence. She never really questioned it though, she saw beyond the labels of ‘jock’ and ‘nerd’ and saw her friends who were just happy to be together. 

John Munch, “Castle” to his Chess Team friends, was another of their non athletic friends and he was dating Kim Greyleck the goalie on the girls’ soccer team team. 

Fin, one of the many football jocks in their group was dating Jordan Todd, the other captain of the debate team. 

Jordan and Kim were both hot, funny, sweet, and smart and they were happy with their boyfriends. Fin may be a jock but he was a smart jock and he was very protective of his friends. Munch was cute in his own way but his brains and his kindness made up for anything he might lack in muscles or looks. 

JJ looked at her guy friends, smiling wryly. She was actually kind of glad at that moment that she wasn’t dating anyone. She knew that her guy friends considered themselves her ‘big brothers’ despite being the same age. JJ knew that having Elliot, Morgan, Fin, Brian, Reid, and even Munch on her side was a good thing but she also could see how it might intimidate potential suitors. She didn’t care though, because so far no one had been trying anyway. 

JJ spotted Casey on a blanket with her boyfriend Brian Cassidy. They were both smiling and JJ liked seeing her friends happy. Brian was the kicker on the football team and Casey was the captain and first baseman on the softball team. 

Elliot Stabler was the quarterback and captain of the football team and so far, he was the only one who stuck to the stereotype and was dating a cheerleader, Kathy Walker. His only deviation from that was that Kathy wasn’t the head cheerleader. 

Alex Cabot was the head cheerleader and she was happily dating Olivia Benson, the star pitcher on the softball team. Alex had been JJ’s best friend since kindergarten. They had been practically joined at the hip their whole lives…until 7th grade when Olivia Benson had moved to town. For a few years they were the three amigas just hanging out. Then, in sophomore year, Alex confessed her crush on Olivia and Olivia admitted the same. They began dating soon after that and the rest was history. Olivia Benson had never known her father but was devoted to her mother. Olivia found her calling of sorts in freshman year when she tried out for the softball team and realized her natural talent. 

JJ glanced then at her friend Penelope Garcia. To an outsider, it might seem like Garcia was the odd duck out. She wasn’t athletic, she wasn’t on any school teams, she was just…Garcia. Garcia was the goddess of all things technological…according to her own hype anyway. But she lived up to her hype and was great with computers and other gadgets. Garcia had moved to town during freshman year when her parents had been killed in a car crash and she’d come to town to live with her grandmother. It had been Alex who’d befriended the new girl then and brought her into the group. It wasn’t long before JJ had seen how cool Garcia was and she gave the girl her stamp of approval, which was all she needed to be accepted into their group. 

It didn’t take JJ long to also notice that Morgan paid more attention to Garcia than anyone else. He’d stopped his player ways and began paying a lot of attention to Garcia. JJ knew then that Morgan was hooked. It had been three years though and while Garcia was equally smitten with the dark skinned football player, neither had ever made a move. After talking to each of them separately, JJ found out that each was crushing hard on the other but oblivious to the feelings of the other. It was enough at times to make JJ wanna bang her head against a wall…or lock them in a room together until they figured it out. But she knew that forcing the issue wasn’t the way to go. One of them would have to be the brave one and make the first move. 

JJ took off her t shirt but kept her shorts on for the time being. She looked around at her friends before she put on her sunglasses and laid back on the blanket, content to just soak up the rays. JJ closed her eyes and began to drift back to sleep.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Alex Cabot glanced at her best friend as she lay on the blanket with her shades on and she knew JJ had gone back to sleep. JJ was by no means lazy or anything but Alex had begun to notice more and more that JJ seemed tired a lot of the time. This was summer vacation, Alex couldn’t think of any reason why JJ would be so tired. Granted, during the school year JJ had classes, soccer, training, and helping out at home but during the summer most of that went away. 

Olivia noticed the tiny frown on her girlfriend’s face and she turned her head to see what Alex was looking at and saw JJ asleep on her blanket. Olivia grinned then turned to her girlfriend, “Al, baby what’s wrong?”

Alex turned to her girlfriend, “Hmm? What? Oh nothing’s wrong I was just thinking.”

“Thinking what?”

“Just wondering what’s making JJ so tired lately. It’s not like her to be late for anything and she was late today. Just worried about her I guess.” 

Olivia nodded, realizing her girlfriend had a point. JJ wasn’t usually late for anything. She was usually the first one to arrive anywhere. “Well, I mean everyone’s allowed to be late once in awhile right?” Olivia didn’t want her girlfriend to be worried about something so small until there was something to really be worried about. 

“I guess.” Alex didn’t sound convinced but was willing to drop it for the time being. 

Olivia shifted to sit behind Alex and wrapped her arms around the slender blonde and rested her chin on Alex’s shoulder. “Hey, don’t worry baby, JJ’s going to have her epic senior year. Let her take this week to rest because I guarantee when school starts, she’s going to need all her energy.”

Alex caught something in Olivia’s voice and turned to face her dark haired girlfriend, Alex’s eyes narrowed a bit, “Olivia Marie Benson, what are you planning?”

Olivia tried for her most innocent expression but knew Alex wasn’t buying it, “Who me? Nothing.”

“Yeah, try that on someone who doesn’t know you like I do. Spill, what’s up?”

They were a good enough distance from JJ’s blanket, and the others weren’t really paying them much attention so Olivia sighed, giving up the pretense and grinned a little bit as she said, “well…let’s just say that this could be the year that our little JJ finally gets a girlfriend.”

Alex looked at her girlfriend a while longer trying to figure out what she was hiding. “C’mon Liv, just tell me. I promise not to tell JJ.”

Olivia sighed, she’d known she wouldn’t be able to keep it a secret for long. “Ok well, my cousin Emily is moving here for senior year. Her parents are on special assignment in Rome and Emily didn’t want to go there again so she convinced her parents to let her stay with me and my mom. Em wanted to finish high school in America.”

“Oh, but what makes you think JJ is gonna get a girlfrie—oh, you mean Emily?”

“Yup. Al I swear these two would be so perfect for each other. You’ll see when Em gets here.”

Alex just smiled, Olivia was so cute when she was scheming. Alex leaned back against her girlfriend and closed her eyes, trusting Olivia on the matter.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Elliot and Fin, still kind of in the doghouse with their girlfriends over their drag race, had gathered the guys up to see if they could get a game of touch football going. When Morgan pointed out that it might be more fun with the girls playing too, Elliot went around and got the girls to join in. 

The only ones who didn’t play were Spence, Munch and Garcia…the non athletes in the group. The threesome sat on a blanket together and watched as their friends split up into teams. 

JJ and Morgan were the team captains and they picked their teams. JJ’s team consisted of JJ, Alex, Olivia, Casey, Jordan and Elliot. Morgan’s team had Morgan, Fin, Elle, Brian, Kim, and Kathy. JJ and Morgan had worked it out that way so that neither Elliot nor Fin were on the same team as their girlfriends. 

The game started and Garcia watched with avid interest. Her eyes never strayed from Morgan as she watched the shirtless, ripped football player run, swerve and throw the ball. Every muscle was on display and Garcia took advantage of his distraction to just sit and enjoy the view. 

Spence and Munch pulled out the portable chess set Munch had brought and they began playing, both knowing that Garcia was happy to watch Morgan and willing to let her without interruption. 

After a few minutes though, Spence looked up from the chessboard at Garcia and said, in a lightly teasing tone, “you got a little drool on your chin Garcia, you might wanna wipe it up.” Spence jokingly handed Garcia a napkin. 

Garcia reddened a little then just laughed, “can you blame me?” Garcia then pointed at Morgan who was at that moment throwing a perfect spiral at Fin that was sadly, intercepted by Jordan who then began running towards the two rocks they’d set up as goal posts. Despite not being an athlete, Jordan was fast enough and clever enough to out run and out maneuver the other team and she scored a touchdown for her team. The little victory dance she gave made Fin just drop his head. 

Spence saw the play and grinned, Jordan was co-captain of the debate team with him and he knew she had a sharp, quick mind and he was glad she was the same way on her feet. Spence then glanced at his girlfriend and saw her shoulders slump a little. Elle was the last person Jo had slipped right by before her touchdown. Being out done by Jo, who Elle sometimes dismissed as the debate team nerd, was a bit disheartening for the softball star, but she took it in stride. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The game ended with JJ’s team winning by three touchdowns. Both teams sat down then and broke out the snacks and drinks they’d packed and before long there was only silence as they ate, though occasionally someone would say something and the gang would either laugh or start debating. 

JJ normally kept herself out of it unless she had something to say. She was content to observe her friends. She liked that they were all smart enough to have long drawn out discussions and debates about more than just the latest episode of CSI or whatever other shows they all watched. 

JJ noticed that even though they weren’t dating, Morgan and Garcia always shared a blanket. She smiled, wondering when her friends were going to get a clue and just hook up already. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Off in the distance, a guy who was about 17 years old caught sight of the large group of teens and he grinned. He was more or less alone, his family had dragged him to the beach for a ‘family fun day’ and he’d had all he could take. He’d wandered off away from them to see if there were any cute girls on this beach. He missed his hometown. He was originally from New Orleans but his mom was from Virginia and she’d been the one to plan this year’s summer vacation. So now, Will LaMontagne Jr. was stuck in vacation hell with his parents and his little sister and all he wanted was to find some kids his own age to hang out with. When he spotted the group of teens he thought his luck was changing. 

Will spotted a blonde in the group who was sitting by herself. He noticed all the others were paired off and he assumed that meant the blonde was single. Will had never been the shy type so with one last glance behind him at his dad playing in the water with his little sister and his mom relaxing the sun, Will began walking toward the teens, determined to at least meet the cute blonde. 

Will walked up to the group and put on his friendliest smile as he said to the blonde, “hi there.”

Morgan looked up at the strange kid who’d said hi and was looking a little too much at JJ and narrowed his eyes a bit. The accent he’d caught told him this kid wasn’t from around here. Morgan stood up and walked over to the kid, “you want something?”

Before Will could answer, the blonde he’d noticed stood up and walked up next to the scary looking guy that had greeted him. 

“Morgan, stand down. He looks harmless.” The blonde turned to Will then and said with a smile, “don’t worry about him, he’s all talk. I’m JJ, what’s your name?”

Will relaxed just a tiny bit as he focused on the cute blonde, “I’m Will. Will LaMontagne. I’m sorry for just walking up like this but…y’all are the first teenagers I’ve seen in three weeks.”

JJ grinned, his accent was a little charming and if she was into guys she could see herself maybe falling for this guy. He was cute and seemed nice enough. JJ noticed that Morgan hadn’t relaxed his stance yet. JJ turned to Morgan, “Morgan relax ok?”

Morgan didn’t relax though, he didn’t like the way this Will guy was looking at JJ. Elliot and Fin walked up behind Morgan and looked at the kid. They decided they didn’t like him either, especially when they noticed the attention he was paying to JJ. 

Brian was about to join them when Casey put her hand on his arm and shook her head. She knew what would happen if all the guys turned into JJ’s bodyguards and she didn’t want to see that kid, Will, hurt. 

Elle and Kim made it clear to their boyfriends that they were to stay put. Spence and Munch just sat down, knowing Elliot, Fin and Morgan were scary enough. 

Alex and Olivia stood up though and went to stand with JJ. Kathy and Jordan went to their boyfriends and pulled them away. Elliot and Fin reluctantly moved away but they didn’t take their eyes off the kid. JJ noticed the attitude of her friends and rolled her eyes. Once again, JJ was glad she didn’t have many admirers. The guys would chase them all away. 

JJ turned to Alex and Liv and they were both grinning at the antics of their guy friends. Liv personally, was a little thankful for Morgan’s over protectiveness. She didn’t want anyone to get in the way of her plan to bring JJ and her cousin Emily together and yeah, it wasn’t likely that JJ would go for a guy but Liv wasn’t the type to take chances like that. 

JJ turned back to Will and smiled again, “Sorry about that, my friends all think they need to play bodyguard. Where are you from Will?” JJ was determined to be nice to Will, she didn’t want him to go back to where ever he was from and bad mouth her hometown. 

Will glanced at Morgan again who had only taken one step back and was still standing there with his arms crossed and his face set like he was looking for any reason to pound him into the ground. Will turned back to JJ and said, “I’m from New Orleans, my parents dragged me here for vacation. Like I said, y’all are the first teenagers I’ve seen in three weeks.”

Before JJ could respond, she heard a voice in the distance. JJ looked over Will’s shoulder and saw an older man standing about a quarter of a mile away waving his arms. “Um, is that your dad?” 

Will turned to look where JJ was pointing and saw that it was indeed his dad. Will felt the embarrassment all the way from his neck to his hairline. He turned back to JJ, “Um…yeah that’s him. Guess I better get going. But it was nice to meet you JJ. Maybe I’ll see you again this week before I leave.” Will turned to the other kids and nodded before he turned away and began the long trek back to his family. 

JJ thought for a moment then ran up behind Will and stopped him, “Um, Will wait.” Will turned to face JJ. “I really am sorry about my friend Morgan. He’s just…very protective of me is all. It was nice meeting you too. I hope the rest of your vacation is fun. Bye.” JJ leaned over and kissed his cheek, knowing she’d never see him again and that, if he was brave enough to walk up to her with all her friends around he deserved some small reward. 

Will just grinned, surprised the blonde had kissed him. He watched as JJ turned and ran back to her friends. Will heard his dad call him again and he sighed, brought back to reality by the demands of family. Will turned and ran back to his dad. Will hoped he’d see JJ again before he left. Next time, he’d get her phone number so he could call her when he went back home. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

JJ ran back to her friends and saw the stunned looks on their faces. “What?”

Morgan was the first to talk, “What was that? With the kiss.”

It became obvious that all the guys had wanted to know and they were only silent because their girlfriends were keeping them in line. Morgan had no such restrictions so he became the spokesman for the group, even Alex and Olivia knew enough to not say anything. 

JJ looked at her friends and just grinned, “What? I was being nice. What I wanna know is why you went all caveman bodyguard on the poor kid. It’s not like he was dangerous or anything.”

Morgan sputtered a bit, not expecting JJ to go on the offensive just yet. He finally regained his senses and said, “you’re right he wasn’t dangerous but JJ girl, you are deadly.”

“Huh?”

“Blonde hair, blue eyes, smoking body, and that sweet smile. You’re surrounded by your friends, some of whom are big scary guys and this scrawny little shrimp of a kid from the bayou has the cojones to walk up and say hi. Girl, given half the chance that poor boy would’ve gotten his ass handed to him just to say hello to you. I was just sparing him the pain when he found out he wasn’t your um…type. Sue me for trying to spare the guy the humiliation of that.” Morgan said, trying to spin his behavior into something noble rather than the act of an over protective ‘big brother’. He knew JJ didn’t like it when he and the others went all bodyguard on one of the girls but sometimes it was unavoidable. They all did it for the girls. Anyone tried to hit on or mess with their female friends, the guys all went into bodyguard mode. 

JJ looked at Morgan for a moment, knowing it was all BS but also knowing that if she called him on it now, it would ruin the day they were having so she decided to let it go. But, she couldn’t resist the chance to tease him a bit. “You really think I have a smoking body and a sweet smile?”

Morgan grinned, “doesn’t matter what I think, you already know it’s the truth so quit fishing for a compliment.”

The tension was broken by the joke and the laugh it got so the friends went back to their earlier debate over which was the better scary movie series, Friday the 13th or A Nightmare on Elm Street.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

It was late in the day when they finally left the beach. They agreed to meet up at the movie theater later to catch a movie and then drove home.

JJ dropped each of her friends off at home before she pulled into her own driveway. JJ got out of the car and walked in the back door. She smiled when she saw her mom standing by the stove making dinner. 

Laura Jareau turned to the sound of the door opening and saw her middle child walk in with a smile on her face. “looks like someone had a good time today.”

“I did, was a great day for the beach. We’re all meeting up around seven to watch a movie, is that ok?”

“That’s fine dear. Dinner should be ready by six thirty so you have plenty of time to shower and change and have dinner before the movie.”

“Thanks mom. Is dad home yet?”

“He’s out back in the garage with Mark, working on some greasy thing.”

“Ok cool. I’m gonna go take a shower, I’ll say hi to dad and Mark later.”

“Ok dear.”

Laura watched her daughter leave the room and smiled. She was so proud of JJ for being such a good kid. Her oldest daughter, Lisa, had been like that too but her youngest, Mark, was turning into a handful. It seemed like it was destined to be true that teenage boys were always going to cause more gray hairs than girls. 

Lisa was away at college now and Mark was going to be a freshman in high school this year. Once JJ graduated and went off to college, Mark would be her only kid left. Laura hoped that Mark wouldn’t be too rebellious and then she thanked her lucky stars she had Daniel, her husband. He could be the disciplinarian once Mark hit the really bad times. 

JJ had just gotten out of the shower and was looking for something to wear for the movies when her cell phone beeped an incoming text message. JJ picked it up and read the message and grinned. It was from her sister, Lisa, wishing her a great senior year. 

The time went by quickly and JJ was soon heading out the door to her car to head to the movie theater. As she pulled into the parking lot for the theater, JJ once again got the feeling that something big was going to happen this year…something that would change her life forever. She could only hope that whatever happened was something good. 

JJ left her car and walked to the front of the theater and saw that she was the first one there. She patiently waited for her friends to show up. One by one, sometimes in pairs, they soon began to show up. When they were all accounted for, they went into the theater and got their tickets, popcorn, soda & snacks and settled into the seats to watch the previews.


	2. When Jennifer met Emily

A week later…

The shrill beeping of the alarm clock woke JJ up at the ungodly hour of 6am on the first day of school. JJ slammed her hand on the snooze button and flopped back down on the bed, not wanting to get up yet. She’d been having a really good dream about the brunette from CSI NY and she didn’t want to wake up. 

Reluctantly, JJ dragged herself out of bed and headed for her bathroom, glad once again that she had inherited Lisa’s old room that had its own bathroom. It meant that JJ never had to worry about taking too long in the shower. 

JJ showered and got dressed in the outfit she’d picked out the night before: black jeans that hugged her curves quite lovingly, a white tank top and a black blouse with only the last three buttons done. JJ finished the look with her black ankle boots and her black denim jacket. All in all, JJ looked hot and she knew it. 

JJ walked into the kitchen and sat down just as her mom slid a plate of pancakes in front of her. It was her mother’s first day of school tradition to make chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast. JJ smiled, knowing she was going to miss this when she went off to college but determined to enjoy it while she could.

“Thanks mom. Looks great.”

“You’re welcome dear. Orange juice or milk?”

“Um…juice definitely. Thanks.” JJ had learned long ago that there was no arguing with her mom on the first day of school. Normally, JJ would get her own breakfast but on the first day of school, her mom went into ‘June Cleaver’ mode and insisted on doing everything. JJ was happy to let her. 

JJ sent a quick text to Alex and Olivia to see if they still wanted a ride to school. Olivia had been strangely absent all weekend from the group, Alex had made the excuse that Olivia had a family thing to deal with so JJ hadn’t pushed but now, she was curious. 

JJ got a text from Alex saying she’d like a ride, and one from Olivia saying she had it covered but thanks anyway. JJ frowned, she hoped things were ok with her friends’ relationship. It would really suck if they were breaking up. 

JJ finished her pancakes and turned to her brother, “hey squirt, if you want a ride you better shake a leg I am out of here in less than five minutes.”

“Ok, let me get by book bag.”

JJ nodded as she watched him leave. She felt her father’s gaze on her and she turned to face him, “what?”

Daniel Jareau sighed at his daughter, “JJ, I know you’re a senior now and being seen with your freshman brother isn’t the ‘cool’ thing to do but, could you try to be nice to him?”

JJ smiled, “Dad, relax ok? Mark’s my little brother, no one is going to mess with him. And I promise to ‘be nice’ to him at school.”

“That’s all I ask.”

JJ grinned, she liked that her father was as involved as he was, it made her feel loved. JJ would’ve said more but Mark came back into the room and said, “all set JJ.”

“Ok, then we’re out of here. Bye mom, Bye dad, see you later!” JJ gave her parents a kiss on the cheek then walked out the back door, keys in hand as she headed to her car. 

Mark repeated the gesture with his mom but only tapped his dad’s shoulder in goodbye, feeling it wasn’t ‘manly’ to kiss his dad goodbye at his age.

Daniel just smiled, a little sad to know his little boy was growing up. 

Mark hopped into the front seat but was barely buckled in when JJ turned to him, “Uh uh, nope. Sorry kid you get the back seat. Scoot! I still gotta pick up Alex.”

“Can’t I ride in front until we get to her house?”

JJ thought about that, “Ok fine but when we get there you get in the back.”

“Deal.” Mark smiled, he had a huge crush on Alex and he would do anything he had to just to see her. He knew she was gay and that he didn’t stand a shot but that didn’t mean he wanted her to think he was just JJ’s little brother. 

JJ shook her head, smiling. She knew Mark was crushing on Alex and that Alex even knew about it. It was harmless and even Olivia teased Alex about it sometimes, she thought it was cute while Alex kept saying it was almost incestuous considering that she and JJ were almost like sisters. 

JJ pulled out of the driveway and turned left, heading to Alex’s house to pick her up. JJ let herself get lost in her feeling that something big was going to happen. Mark was content to sit quietly, his nerves over starting high school doing a good job of keeping him silent.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Olivia Benson was not in a good mood. Normally, she rode to school with Alex and JJ, gossiping about everything but that wasn’t an option today. Emily had arrived late Friday night and that had put an end to Olivia’s plans for the last weekend of summer break. 

Olivia knew it was too soon to introduce Emily to the group. She first had to make sure Emily was single and interested. Olivia was sitting on her bed staring into space at 5am remembering the conversation she’d had with Emily Saturday afternoon.

_“So, Em, how was your flight?” Olivia asked, trying to work her way up to asking her cousin about any girlfriends she might have._

_Emily smiled at her cousin, Olivia was like the sister she’d never had despite there being no actual blood link between them. Olivia’s aunt had married Emily’s uncle. They were cousins by marriage but due to the circumstances of her childhood, Emily had come to think of Olivia like a sister._

_Emily’s parents worked for the State Department which meant a lot of traveling around the world. Usually, Emily went with them but when she could get away with it, she’d convince her parents to let her spend her summer vacations with her Uncle Jason and her Aunt Marina._

_It was during the summers that she would hang out with her cousin Olivia who often spent her summers with her Aunt Marina while her mother worked. The two little girls had bonded over their workaholic mothers and grown closer than sisters._

_When Olivia had confessed to Emily that she was gay, Emily knew Olivia expected her to be angry or disgusted but Emily had shocked her by confessing the same secret. Emily knew that Olivia had only ever had one girlfriend, Alex Cabot but Emily had never met the girl._

_Emily, on the other hand, had never found a girl she liked enough to stay with for more than a week or two. “The flight was fine. There was a very cute flight attendant that kept smiling at me but she wasn’t my type.”_

_Olivia grinned, “lemme guess….was she a brunette or a red head?” Olivia was very aware that Emily preferred blondes._

_Emily turned away, blushing at how well her cousin knew her, “um…red head. But enough about that, when am I finally going to meet the infamous Alex Cabot that has my cousin so whipped?”_

_“Hey, I am not whipped, I’m…in love. There’s a difference. As for meeting Alex, I dunno…I gotta make sure you’re not gonna go crushing on her when you see her. She’s a blue eyed blonde after all.” Olivia said, only half kidding. She knew Emily would never do anything to get between her and Alex but she also knew that blue eyed blondes were Emily’s weakness._

_Emily frowned, “Liv, c’mon you know me better than that. I would never try to steal your girl. Besides, is it my fault we’re so alike we even have the same taste in girls?” The teasing note in Emily’s voice did the trick to ease the tension.  
When the laughter died down, Olivia said, “well now that that’s settled, I think it’s only fair to tell you that I think we should wait until school starts before you meet the group. Alex can probably swing by here later to hang for a bit but the others might be a bit much.”_

_“Wait, the others? How many are we talking about here?” Emily asked, a little concerned._

_Olivia pretended to count in her head, “Um…well there’s like 15 of us. We’re all friends.”_

_“15? Are you serious? When did you become such a social butterfly?” Emily had only ever seen the loner side of Olivia that she showed during their summer breaks together._

_“Um…about the time we moved here and I stopped spending my summers at Aunt Marina’s I guess. I met Alex and JJ and it just grew from there.”_

_“Who’s JJ?”_

_Olivia smiled, “JJ’s like the leader of the group. Smart, funny, hot, and a born leader.”_

_“Oh…so is JJ a guy or a girl?”_

_“Oh, most definitely a girl. In fact,” Olivia turned and picked up her wallet where she had a picture of the whole gang. She took out the wallet sized photo and handed it to Emily, her finger positioned right next to JJ’s smiling face, “that’s JJ right there.”_

_Emily looked at the image of a blonde with sparkling blue eyes and a smile that made Emily wish she knew what had caused it…and how to see it again in person. “She’s cute, Liv.” Emily downplayed her reaction to JJ, knowing that Olivia would never let her near her friend if she thought Emily was interested. Emily knew her reputation of being a player would make Olivia nervous. Emily spotted another hot blonde and changed the subject, “Is this Alex over here?”_

_Olivia knew Emily was more affected by JJ’s picture than she let on but she didn’t push the issue. Instead she leaned closer and saw Emily was indeed pointing to Alex, who was standing in front of Olivia with the brunette’s arms wrapped around her._

_“Yep that’s Alex.” Olivia decided to ‘introduce’ Emily to the rest of the gang in the picture. She pointed to each person as she identified them. “This hot stud here is Morgan and standing in front of him is Garcia…long story with those two though they aren’t actually dating. Um, next to them are Elliot and his girlfriend Kathy. That’s Fin and his girlfriend Jordan. That’s Brian and his girlfriend Casey. JJ you know, that scrawny looking guy is Spence and believe it or not that hot chick with him is his girlfriend Elle, then Munch and Kim and on the end there is me and Alex.”_

_Emily looked at her cousin’s group of friends and smiled. They all looked happy and they looked like nice people. She could tell that they had accepted Liv’s sexuality and her relationship with Alex by the way no one seemed to care that Liv was holding Alex. It gave Emily hope that they might accept her as well._

_“They look nice…and damn Liv all your female friends are hot…I’m surprised you can stand it.”_

_Liv laughed, “it’s actually not that hard Em. We’re all almost like family and besides, I have Alex and I am so not the type to stray, you know that.” Olivia thought about revealing that JJ was the only other gay one in the group but decided that there were some things that weren’t Olivia’s place to reveal._

_Emily thought about that and decided that she wasn’t going to mess with Liv’s friends. She’d play the good girl and be nice and just try to get them to accept her so that her senior year wasn’t a total drag and also so that Liv wouldn’t feel like she had to pick between her friends and her cousin._

_Olivia and Emily decided that they would spend the weekend relaxing at Liv’s house before she met Liv’s friends. Alex had stopped by for a few hours on Saturday evening but had to leave to meet the gang for a movie. Liv had been cool about it and told Alex to tell their friends that she had a family issue but that it would be cleared up by Monday._

Olivia was jolted out of her thoughts by her cell phone beeping an incoming text. She picked up the phone and saw that it was JJ asking if she needed a ride. Liv grinned, she so wanted to get a ride but she knew that wasn’t the right way to introduce JJ and Emily, so she sent back a text saying she had it covered and started to get ready for school. 

Olivia knocked on Emily’s door to wake her and found her cousin already dressed and writing in a journal. 

Olivia couldn’t help but tease her a bit, “dear diary, today is the first day of school and I am wondering if I can play sick to get out of it…right?”

Emily glanced up and smiled, “shut up Liv. I was just killing time until you got your lazy butt in gear.”

“Uh huh, well if you’re ready to go Mom said she’d drop us off on her way to work.”

“Ok, let’s go.”

Olivia and Emily headed out to Serena Benson’s car and got in, soon they were buckled up and heading to school. Olivia had assured her mom that they would grab breakfast at the diner near school before the first bell. 

Serena dropped the girls off at the diner and handed Liv some money before she drove off.

Liv turned to Emily, “Well, I hope your refined tastes can handle diner food.”

Liv liked to tease Emily about how she’d been raised. Emily’s family had money and so she’d grown up with a silver spoon in her mouth but she never acted like it, which made it easier for Liv and her to be so close. 

Emily just laughed as she smacked Liv’s shoulder and walked into the diner. Emily picked a booth by the window and Liv agreed. 

The girls ordered their breakfast and waited for the waitress to bring it out. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

JJ pulled up to Alex’s house and honked the horn before turning to Mark, “Ok kid, back seat.”

Mark reluctantly gave up the front seat and got out of the car to move to the back when he heard the door opening. He glanced behind him and almost dropped his bag. 

Alex Cabot was dressed in a short black skirt and a red blouse with red pumps. She had tossed on a blue denim jacket and her hair was pulled back in a ponytail. Mark was standing there with his mouth hanging open when Alex reached the car. She took one look at Mark’s face and giggled. 

“Guess I look okay huh?” Alex said, to JJ since Mark wasn’t in any shape to reply.

JJ laughed at her little brother’s reaction. “hey Mark, snap out of it and get in the back seat or I’ll leave you here to walk to school.”

Mark snapped out of his stupor and glared at JJ before he glanced at Alex, “You look really nice Alex.” Mark managed to say before he climbed into the back seat and buckled up, trying not to stare as Alex got in the car, her skirt riding up a little at the movement. 

Alex smiled her thanks at the compliment before she got in the car. She turned to look at JJ and saw a look in her eyes that told her she was in trouble. “What is that look for?”

JJ shook her head, smiling. Alex may not be totally comfortable with Mark’s crush on her but that didn’t stop her from tormenting the poor kid. JJ had told Alex Sunday afternoon that she would be driving Mark to school now that he was a freshman and Alex had deliberately chosen an outfit that she knew would stun the boy. “You know what it’s for, but we’ll talk about it later.”

Alex just nodded, knowing that she was going to get an earful about not tormenting Mark just because he has a crush on her. Honestly, she hadn’t thought of Mark when she picked out her clothes…she’d been thinking about Olivia’s reaction. She hadn’t seen her girlfriend at all on Sunday and only for a few hours on Saturday and Alex was missing her. So she was determined to remind Liv of exactly why she was Alex’s girlfriend. 

JJ pulled away from Alex’s house and headed towards the school. There was still plenty of time before first bell and the gang usually met in the parking lot of the school before first bell to chill before the pressures of classes tumbled down on them. 

JJ was about two blocks from the school at a red light when Alex looked to her right and saw Liv sitting in the window of Melinda’s the diner the gang usually snuck off to for lunch. She was sitting having breakfast with a pretty brunette that Alex recognized as Liv’s cousin Emily. Alex had met her Saturday afternoon and she liked the other girl. She decided not to say anything to JJ as the light turned green. She knew Liv was planning her own way to introduce Emily to JJ and the gang. Alex turned to the radio, the music loud enough to prevent any conversation. She was used to JJ drowning out the chatter that usually came from the back seat as Alex and Liv talked about their classes and their friends. Today, there was silence from the back seat and Alex suspected it was mostly because Mark was still trying to recover from her teasing.

JJ let the music wash over her, as her mind wandered to her friend Liv. Something was going on with her and JJ was determined to find out what it was. She would hate to have to deal with a break up in the gang. They were all so close that it would be really hard to separate the relationship from the friendship.

JJ pulled into the school parking lot and drove to the corner of the lot that she and her friends had claimed as their own when they’d gotten their cars. JJ pulled in next to Elliot’s dark blue Taurus and smiled, glad that the parts El’s car needed had come in before school started. 

JJ got out and greeted her friends, who were hanging out by Fin’s Cayenne. His back hatch was open and they were all either standing nearby or sitting inside the back cargo area. Fin and Jordan were sitting in the middle, holding hands as they joked with their friends. 

JJ noticed that the only ones missing were Morgan, Garcia, Brian and Olivia. She knew that Morgan usually gave Garcia and Brian a ride so they would show up pretty soon. Olivia had said she’d find her own way to school so JJ wasn’t too worried, though she kept checking her cell just in case Liv texted her that she needed a ride after all.   
Alex greeted her friends and answered their questions about where Liv was with equal parts honesty and mystery.

Mark stood next to JJ, a little intimidated by his sister’s friends. He knew them all and they were a lot of fun to be around but he almost never really got to hang with them. Mark looked at his sister’s female friends and tried not to blush. He had a mini crush on all of them. His sister had very hot friends and if he was a little braver, he would make a move. But then he looked at their boyfriends and realized that he’d get pounded into the ground if he even tried. 

“So Mark, how’s it feel to finally be in high school?” Elle asked, wanting to engage the boy in conversation so he wouldn’t feel left out. 

Mark looked at Elle and smiled, “feels ok, just another school year.” Mark wanted to act like he wasn’t nervous as hell and a little intimidated by the bigger building and the increase in students. His junior high school was smaller and less confusing. 

“Just another school year? Well you’re handling it better than I did. I was so nervous when I started high school I threw up in the girls’ bathroom before first bell.” Kathy chimed in, surprised at the kid’s statement.

Mark smiled, and then relaxed a bit and confessed he was a little nervous. The conversation turned into a mini debate over who had the scariest freshman year experience. The stories ranged from Kathy’s story of vomiting in the bathroom to Reid’s hiding in the library during lunch to avoid the bullies…until he made friends with JJ over Halloween at a party. 

The stories all ended pretty much the same, freshman year was bad but not as bad as it could’ve been if they hadn’t been friends with JJ. JJ for her part had her own freshman story but hers ended with how happy she was to make so many new friends and still keep the ones she grew up with. 

By the time the first bell rang, Morgan, Garcia and Brian joined the group, having told their tales of freshman year. 

Just before first bell, Mark heard his name being called and he turned towards the sound. He saw his two best friends standing a few cars away, too scared to get any closer to the group of seniors, trying to avoid getting bullied. 

Mark grinned and turned to his sister, “Hey um, I’m gonna go hang with Jimmy and Tommy ok?”

“Yeah sure. Have at it and stay out of trouble ok? Everyone in the school knows you’re my brother so be good. Also, I’m gonna stick around until 4 waiting for Alex so if you want a ride home then wait here at the car for me got it?”

“Yeah ok. I’ll text you if I manage to find a ride but I should be here after last bell. Bye JJ, bye everyone.”

The gang said their goodbyes, laughing and smiling at the boy’s excitement to see his friends. 

“Man, were we ever that young?” Morgan asked.

The gang laughed at the question, knowing that while they didn’t look it now, yeah they were probably that young and innocent back when they were freshman. 

First bell rang and the gang started to head inside. They had to sit through the “Welcome Back/Orientation” Assembly that the school held every year. The whole school had to sit in the auditorium and listen to the principal, vice principal and the guidance counselor go on and on about the rules of conduct, any announcements and the same tired speeches about their doors always being open to anyone who wanted to talk about anything. 

They tried to be hip and modern but the students only ever saw them as the ‘old guys’ who ran the school. 

As they approached the main doors to the school, JJ grabbed Alex’s arm and pulled her aside, “Hey um, is everything ok with you and Liv? I mean she hasn’t been around all weekend and then you two don’t ride to school together and now, Liv is late for school and still no sign of her and you don’t even seem worried so, what’s going on?”

Alex sighed, looking around to make sure they were alone, “Relax JJ it’s fine. Liv and I are perfect she just had a family thing to deal with this weekend. She told me her mom was going to drive her to school today. Besides, I saw her earlier at Melinda’s having breakfast. She’ll be here soon.”

“Wait, you saw her at the diner? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because I didn’t think she wanted to be interrupted. Liv likes her alone time at times and I try to respect that ok?”

JJ relented, knowing what it was like to want to be alone sometimes. “Well…ok but promise you’ll tell me if anything is wrong?”

“I promise JJ, you’ll be the first to know ok?”

“Okay cool. Now, c’mon let’s get this assembly over with.”

JJ and Alex caught up with the gang just in time to hear Morgan say, in a low voice so as not to be overheard by anyone but his friends, “damn…who’s the hottie with Liv? Is there trouble in paradise?”

Alex heard and slapped Morgan on the arm, “no, no trouble at all. C’mon let’s find out who that is.” Though Alex already knew who Morgan was talking about she didn’t want to ruin Liv’s surprise. 

Olivia Benson was nervous. She knew that she should’ve prepared Emily a little better but she also knew there was no real way to prepare someone for her friends. Liv looked up from where she was standing with Emily, and saw her friends. Emily still had her back turned to them, and she noticed Liv’s eyes shift to something over her shoulder. She suddenly knew that Liv had seen her friends. Emily felt her heart start to race, she was nervous about meeting her cousin’s friends, wanting to make a good impression on them.

Emily turned to Liv, “are they at least smiling?”

Liv, her eyes never leaving the gang, said, “Um, some of them are. I think the others are concerned there might be a problem with me and Alex if I am standing here with someone else, ya know?”

“Oh Liv, I don’t want to cause you any problems.”

“Don’t worry about it Em, they’ll relax once they know who you are. They’re just protective of each other. We all are and the guys like to play bodyguard when one of us girls is in trouble.” Liv gave a crooked grin at that last remark, remembering the last time the guys went into bodyguard mode, at the beach with that southern kid who’d tried to hit on JJ. They hadn’t seen him again that week and Liv was happy about that, she hadn’t liked that kid. 

The gang walked up behind the unknown girl who was standing with their friend and the guys all stood their tallest, their arms crossed over their chests as they tried to look stern. Well, mostly it was Elliot, Morgan, Fin and Brian…Munch and Reid knew they’d never pull off intimidating so they just stood there looking serious. 

It was Elliot this time who spoke for the guys in the group, “Hey Liv, who’s your friend?”

Olivia grinned at her friends, “Hey El, hey guys.” Liv turned to Alex and saw her girlfriend smile in support, then she put her hand on Emily’s shoulder to turn her to face the group. “Um, everybody, this is Emily Prentiss…my cousin. Emily, this is everybody.”

The guys visibly relaxed their stance a few degrees, now that it was clear that this Emily wasn’t a threat to their friends’ relationship, they seemed to warm up a bit. 

JJ looked at Emily and was shocked at the flutter she felt in her stomach. She was struck by how beautiful the girl was, with her black hair and her deep brown eyes that JJ had to look away from before she lost herself in them. JJ took in Emily’s outfit and realized that running her eyes over Emily’s body wasn’t helping to keep her libido under control. Emily was wearing dark blue jeans so tight they hugged every curve, a blood red t shirt and a black leather jacket. JJ was so taken by the girl she missed the gang introducing themselves. The silence that followed when it came to her turn, snapped her out of her musings and she blushed as she realized she was expected to introduce herself. 

“I’m JJ.” JJ took the hand that Emily held out and felt the tiny spark of electricity shoot between them. JJ fought not to show her reaction as Liv began talking again now that they were done with introductions.

“Emily’s parents are in Europe on assignment so she’s gonna spend her senior year here with me.” Emily stayed quiet, a little shy around her cousin’s friends and also still recovering from her reaction to JJ. It was stronger in person than it had been when she’d seen the girl’s picture. Emily let Liv handle the explanations. 

Before Liv could get deeper into her explanation, the bell rang and the gang knew it was time to go into the auditorium for the assembly. 

The friends walked in and Liv walked next to Alex, grabbing her hand as they walked. Emily was on Liv’s other side, following her cousin to where they were going to sit. The gang worked it out and the friends coupled off, taking up two rows. Morgan, Garcia, Elliot, Kathy, Fin, Jordan, Brian and Casey sat in the back row as Munch, Kim, Spence, Elle, Alex, Olivia, Emily & JJ sat in the row in front of them. The guys wanted to be able to keep an eye on Emily, they weren’t going to let up until they were sure Emily was cool. 

The assembly began with a pre-recorded, slightly tinny version of the school song played over the speakers. Emily fought not to roll her eyes at the song as the lyrics registered in her brain. The song was a bit lame and Emily vainly thought she could write a better one in her sleep. Emily glanced to her right at JJ and noticed the smile on the blonde’s face: she liked this song! Emily really tried this time to not show her dislike for the song, she didn’t want to offend her cousin’s friend.

JJ listened to the song, she liked it, mainly because it was played at every pep rally and big game. Being a soccer player, and having friends on the football team, JJ had heard that song a lot in the last three years. She could admit it was a little lame but that was part of why she liked it. JJ noticed Emily turning to look at her and she forced herself to keep smiling and not turn to look at her. 

The song ended and Principal Cragen stepped to the podium that had been set up for the speeches. The older man, who was slightly balding, cleared his throat as he adjusted the microphone. “Good morning. For those students returning for another year here, welcome back, and for our new students, welcome to Barton Avery Underwood High School. My name is Principal Cragen. I have a few announcements to make before I hand the microphone over to Vice Principal Rossi.” Principal Cragen turned and gestured to another man, sitting on the stage off to the left. He then turned back to the microphone. 

“First off, football team tryouts will be held all this week after school. With Homecoming just a few weeks away, we need to build a strong team. Please see Coach Hotchner in the gym to sign up for tryouts. Cheerleader tryouts will be held starting tomorrow in the girls’ gym, there are three open slots and we want to fill them before the Homecoming game. Mrs. Hotchner informed me that this year’s school play will be a musical, Grease, and that tryouts for that will be held next month. Now, you’ve all received your schedules and homeroom assignments. Your homeroom teachers will provide all new students with a copy of the Rules of Conduct and Dress Code during homeroom tomorrow. Anyone in violation of the rules after tomorrow will be subject to disciplinary actions. I’m going to turn the stage over to Vice Principal Rossi at this time.” Cragen turned to Rossi and motioned him over. 

Vice Principal David Rossi walked slowly over to the podium. He hated addressing the school like this, he preferred to do it via the PA system. Rossi took his place as Cragen sat down. “Thank you Principal Cragen. Well most of you know me, for the new students, I am Vice Principal David Rossi. Those of you who violate any of the rules of conduct or dress code will be getting sent to me,” Rossi grinned a little evilly, “and be warned, I am not a lenient man, so think twice before you break any of the rules. That being said, I hope you all have a great school year and that I don’t have to see many of you in my office until at least…December.” Rossi grinned, then let the students laugh at his joke. The returning students knew his sense of humor and he always picked a different month but the sentiment was the same. 

Rossi turned to look at the next man in line to address the students, Jason Gideon, the guidance counselor. “Do you have anything to add Jason?” Rossi knew that Gideon usually let the students call him by his first name, it helped him connect to the kids. 

Jason Gideon stood up and walked over to Rossi. He clapped him on the back and smiled, “One or two things, thanks Dave.”

The men traded places and Rossi sat down, thankful to be out of the spotlight. Jason took his place at the podium and smiled comfortably at the students. He looked around and noticed some of the seniors had tuned out but his gaze landed on one in particular. Jason smiled as he watched his protégé paying close attention to the speeches. Spencer Reid was a rarity among those of his age and Jason knew the young man would go on to do great things.

“Welcome to another school year. My name is Jason Gideon and I am the school’s guidance counselor. I am always here if anyone needs to talk. My door is always open, unless I am with a student. Feel free to drop by between classes or before or after school if you need someone to talk to. I know how scary high school can be, especially for you freshman. New school, new people, new pressures. It can be a harsh world, I’m offering to be a port in that storm for anyone who needs one. Now, I’ll let Coach Hotchner have his say before Principal Cragen releases you all on our unsuspecting teachers.” That got a laugh from the students as Gideon left the podium and a much younger man took his place. 

Coach Aaron Hotchner was in his late 30s. He was married to the school’s drama teacher and he taught physical education as well as coached the Football & Soccer teams. His students all called him Hotch or Coach. Hotch was a handsome man, still young enough that some of the girls had crushes on him but old enough that none of them ever tried anything. 

“Well, I’m Coach Hotchner but I prefer to be called Hotch or Coach. In regards to the football team tryouts, I want to see my returning team there as well as any new students who want to try out. No one is guaranteed a spot on the team, not even my returning stars,” Hotch easily found Morgan, Fin, and Elliot with his gaze, he grinned, knowing that his seniors would easily make the team, “so come on out for tryouts and let’s build us a championship team. Go Wolves!”

The students cheered, school pride in full effect as the students rallied behind their beloved coach. 

Principal Cragen returned to the podium and when the noise died down he dismissed the students to their classes. 

The gang left the auditorium and JJ turned to Emily, “hey, what’s your first class?”

Emily blushed, “Um, I didn’t get my schedule yet. I was told to visit the office to officially register and get my schedule. My transfer was kind of last minute.”

“Oh, well I have first period free so I can show you where the office is…if you want.” JJ offered, a little nervous. 

Liv heard this and smiled, she spoke before Emily could say anything, “hey that’s a great idea JJ. I got English first period and you know how Strauss gets when anyone’s late. Emily, I’ll see you later ok?”

Emily just nodded, then let herself be led away by the blonde. 

JJ walked next to Emily as they headed to the office. She thought up and discarded one opening line after another in her attempt to start a conversation. They all sounded lame to her, and a few sounded like cheesy pick up lines. 

It was Emily who broke the silence, “So, um, Olivia told me you were on the soccer team. That’s so cool. You must really like it.” Even to her own ears it sounded lame but Emily didn’t care, she just wanted to hear JJ’s voice again. 

JJ smiled, she loved talking about soccer. The conversation began slowly as JJ talked about her love of the game and how it was her ticket out of there and into college. Emily smiled, happy to just listen to JJ talk. Sooner than she would’ve liked though, they were outside the main office. JJ led Emily inside and, since she had the next hour free she offered to wait there for Emily to get her schedule so she could show her to her next class. 

Emily spoke to the secretary and was soon enrolled officially in BAU high. The secretary, a blonde named Elizabeth Donnelly, saw JJ waiting for the new girl and she smiled. She was in charge of making the schedules and she could tell that JJ liked Emily. Liz made up her mind and checked the computerized class records. It took her a few minutes to first call up JJ’s schedule and then to make sure there was a spot in the classes. Within ten minutes, Liz had enrolled Emily in all of JJ’s classes. Their schedules were identical. Liz grinned to herself, she hoped JJ would take advantage of all her hard work and use their identical schedules to get closer to Emily. Liz had gone to school with JJ’s mom and she knew the family well. She wanted JJ to be happy. 

Emily, unaware of what the secretary had done, took her schedule with a hint of sadness in her chest. She figured this was where they parted ways, JJ had the first period free and Emily would have to go to class.

Emily walked out of the office, refusing to look at her schedule yet, with JJ right behind her.

“So, what’s your first class?” JJ asked, hoping that they had at least one class in common. 

Emily handed the paper to JJ, not willing to see the proof of their separation just yet.

JJ took the paper and scanned it, looking for the first classroom number. She grinned when she saw that Emily had first period free as well. Then she did a double take as she realized that Emily’s schedule looked identical to hers. JJ pulled out her own schedule and held them side by side to compare, just in case she was mistaken. Nope, she wasn’t mistaken, they were identical, right down to the same lunch period, the only difference was their homeroom which was assigned by last name. JJ smiled, it looked like she was going to be seeing a lot of Emily this year and she only hoped that meant that somewhere along the way, they’d be more than friends. 

“Well? Does it say where I gotta go first?” Emily finally asked, unable to handle the silence as she noticed JJ comparing their schedules. Something was up.

“Looks like Miss Donnelly has been up to her old tricks again.” JJ mumbled under her breath, she didn’t want Emily to know that she knew Liz Donnelly…or that the meddling secretary was the unofficial matchmaker of the school. She raised her voice, “Looks like we have the same schedule. Which means you have first period free too, and then you—I mean we have English class with Strauss.” JJ thought about the situation and glanced at her watch, they still had at least half an hour left in their free period, so she made her decision. “C’mon, I have an idea.” JJ grabbed Emily’s hand and began leading her to the side doors. 

Emily, still a bit stunned at having all of the same classes as JJ, just let herself be led to wherever JJ was taking her. When Emily noticed they were heading outside the school, she got curious. 

JJ led Emily to her car and unlocked the doors. She held Emily’s door open for her and watched as Emily slid in without a word, trusting the blonde. 

JJ went around to the driver’s side and slid behind the wheel. She closed her door and turned her car on. JJ didn’t buckle up and she didn’t shift the car into drive, she just turned on the AC and then the radio. JJ turned the sound down to a reasonable level and turned to grin at Emily.

“We have about 30 minutes or so until we have to face Strauss. Trust me she can be a real…handful. I figured we could use the time to get to know each other a bit more and maybe listen to some music to relax before facing her, is that okay?”

Emily grinned, JJ was so cute when she babbled. “Yeah it’s fine JJ. I do have a question for you though.”

“What’s that?”

“What does the JJ stand for?”

JJ grinned, no one ever really asked her that anymore. Certainly none of her friends had asked. She’d been JJ all her life. Her parents had agreed to call her JJ when she was in the first grade, knowing her daughter didn’t think her real name suited her. Only Alex knew for certain what her real name was and that was only because Alex met her as Jennifer not JJ. JJ realized that none of her friends had ever made the effort to find out her real name. All her teachers called her JJ and she always introduced herself as JJ. Suddenly, JJ wanted Emily to know her real name, even if she still thought it didn’t suit her. 

“Those are my initials. My real name is Jennifer Jareau. But everyone’s always called me JJ since I was in like, first grade.”

“Jennifer…that’s a really beautiful name. It fits you, a beautiful name for a beautiful girl.” Emily said, a little wistfully. She wanted to use that name a lot more but realized that she’d have to respect JJ’s wishes and call her JJ. 

JJ blushed, both at the compliment and at the feeling she got when she heard Emily say her name. JJ felt the warmth that began in her belly and spread to her limbs at the way Emily said her name. She smiled and thanked Emily for her compliment.

Pretty soon they began talking about their childhoods and how they grew up. Emily was talking about her parents and her uncle and the summers she spent with him and his wife and Olivia and something occurred to JJ. “Wait, you spent summers with your uncle, his wife and her niece? That’s an odd way to describe them.”

“Well, only if you don’t know the history. My uncle married Olivia’s aunt. Technically speaking there’s no blood link between me and Olivia. We’re cousins by marriage. I mean, if god forbid my uncle got a divorce, I’d probably never see Marina again. Olivia is the closest thing I have to a sister so I’d probably see her but there’d always be the awkwardness of the divorce ya know? Which is why I am so glad that my uncle Jon is extremely happy with Marina.”

JJ nodded, suddenly understanding the situation. Silence reigned as they listened to the radio. After a few minutes, JJ pulled a CD out of the CD holder on her visor and put it in the player. She waited it to load then hit play. 

Emily watched in silence, for some reason she trusted JJ and she was curious what kind of music the blonde had on CD. 

When the opening notes of “You Give Love a Bad Name’ by Bon Jovi came blasting out of the speakers, Emily couldn’t help but smile. Emily was a huge fan of the music of the 80s and she liked that JJ seemed to be as well. 

JJ saw the look on Emily’s face and was glad she’d guessed right about Emily’s taste in music. 

A few lines into the song, JJ began to let loose and sing along. Emily smiled and then joined her. They spent the rest of their free period singing along to the songs on the CD, all from the 80s. 

They’d just finished the last line of “Warrior” by Scandal when JJ heard the bell ring from the school. She glanced at her watch and frowned. “Dang it, time’s up.” JJ turned off her car without stopping the CD so that it would pick up where they’d left off after school. She turned to Emily, “C’mon, as much as I want to stay here with you and the music, we gotta get to class.”

Emily frowned, “yeah I suppose we should. First day and all, but I am really starting to wish I didn’t have to go to class. This was too much fun.”

“It was fun. Well don’t worry because before you know it, the weekend will be here and there’ll be plenty of time then to rock out. There’s a party this weekend and you, are most definitely invited. Let’s go before we’re late and Strauss has a cow.”

The girls left JJ’s car and she locked up again. They headed back to the school and went to class. JJ walked in and smiled when she saw that Alex was in this class too. It was going to be a very interesting year.

Before long, the whole gang was immersed in classes. Emily sat next to JJ in every class, enjoying the chance to be close to the girl she was starting to like. Emily realized very quickly that her vow to be the good girl and not mess with Liv’s friends was going to be tough to keep around JJ.


End file.
